TRAINING CAMP: DAY 2

“That long arm’s going to be home for you baby, home! That’s the leverage we’ve got to have, gentlemen!”

— Jim Bates, in reference to a great play by Elvis Dumervil

So, Day #2 is in the books.

The Broncos had another great day of practice. The morning practice was with shoulder pads and shorts, and the afternoon practice was a shortened Special Teams session. Highlights included Brandon Stokley’s impressive work as he competes for the #2 WR spot. Jarvis Moss showing some great improvement today and Elvis Dumervil proving to his new coach that a short man with long arms can still bust up a play (see above quote)!

On to the notes…

OFFENSIVE LINE UPS: MONDAY

Wide Outs:
Brandon Stokley and Hixon both had time with the first team, but Stokley seemed to impress the most.

Tight Ends:
No real change, although Nate Jackson had a good practice. Daniel Graham remained the primary TE with Stephen Alexander and Nate Jackson both getting some reps on the 1st Team. Teyo Johnson worked exclusively with the 2nd and 3rd Teams.

Running Backs:
Travis Henry began to pull away seriously from the pack as the rest of the roster followed. Cecil Sapp was running second with Mike Bell, Andre Hall and Young following behind.

Secondary:
No surprises here as CB’s Champ Bailey and Dre’ Bly and Safeties Nick Ferguson and John Lynch played on the 1st Team. Foxworth was their Nickel back and Cox joined the 1st Team during work on the Dime Package.

Our friend Kaylore and SoCal were back out at Camp today giving us their first-hand accounts. They’re full reports can be found over at Orange Mane.

RUNNING BACKS:
Starting with the starter, SoCal reports that Henry ran with authority today. With pads on and working in redzone/goal line situations, Henry displayed good power and ability to find the holes the O-line was opening. Sapp stuck at #2 today with good work, while Hall and Young remained behind the others.

“He continues to get more comfortable in this scheme. He also showed a bit more speed than he did yesterday. His highlight play was a cutback across the entire field and showed enough burst to beat most defenders to the opposite hash”

— SoCal 7/30/07

DEFENSIVE LINE:Both Kaylore and SoCal report that Jarvis Moss had an awesome day! Kaylore got to watch the 1-on-1 drills where Moss apparently took major strides forward today. Jim Bates complimented him several times as he worked against Pears and Meadows. They both mention that he needs to work on conditioning as he got winded, but that’s to be expected as players adjust to the thin air.

“Moss had an amazing practice… He is very good at using his hands. He slaps at the wrist and does a good a job of getting his shoulder around the offensive linemen. He’s developed some moves for different players and has good instincts depending on what he sees. During the drills against the offensive line he had a streak where he beat his guy four times before Meadows finally shut him down.”

— Kaylore 7/30/07

The other rookies, Tim Crowder and Marcus Thomas, both showed signs of improvement, but also showed they have a long way to go.

As for the vets, Ebenezer Ekuban is adjusting to play wider. He Kaylore says that he’s impressed with his quickness and power (and consistency). John Engelberger had a solid day and earned praise from Mike Shanahan during goal line work. Antwon Burton seems to also being doing well, and may being moving up. Elvis Dumervil did well at times, but also got his hat handed to him on a couple of occasions.

“When he beats his guy, he beats him very quickly and he’s there. If a guy gets his hands on him, it’s over. On one drill Lepsis literally picked him up and threw him on the ground. Dumervil took some ripping and looked embarrassed. He still has a good motor and tries every play, though.“

— Kaylore 7/30/07

OFFENSIVE LINE:
On the O-line things are as expected with Tom Nalen continuing to do what he does best. He can still use his strength and leverage better than anyone on the line. Matt Lepsis played well, but Ben Hamilton seemed to struggle a bit today.

“Hamilton does a good job keeping his feet but he still gets blown off the ball in straight bull rush attacks. He just gives up too much ground. He’s always good at getting his hands on his guy and keeping the play in front of him and in the rushing attack he’s quick and explosive but he doesn’t anchor well in the passing game.“

— Kaylore 7/30/07

Kaylore reports Erik Pears showed improvement and that Adam Meadows and rookie Ryan Harris struggle today. However, he says that Chris Kuper had a great practice.

“He’s still really hard to move and generally just plows guys off the ball. His feet are always in good position and once he anchors he explodes back into the attacker and they just can’t win. I maintain that he’s going to be a pro bowl player for us.”

— Kaylore 7/30/07

WIDE RECIEVERS AND TIGHT ENDS:
Walker and Hixon had solid day, but no acrobatic catches. Both SoCal and Kaylore had good things to say about Brandon Stokley, which mirrors what we heard from Mason and the Post.

“Brandon Stokley was the best of the bunch today. He really is developing a nice chemistry with Jay Cutler. He had a beautiful sideline catch on a deep ball in the midst of two defenders.”

— SoCal 7/30/07

“Stokely had a great practice. He is way ahead of schedule and is cutting and running full speed. He made some really impressive catches and his routes are crisp. He also is the best at adjusting his route to a blitz. His only knock is he isn’t the blazer that Hixon is”

— Kaylore 7/30/07

They also mention that my boy Nate Jackson did well today, catching several passes — Go Nate!

QUARTERBACKS:
Cutler did well by all accounts, although both of them mentioned he seemed to force a couple of passes. The thing I’m most pleased with is SoCal’s comment that he’s doing well against the blitz, as his reads needed to be quicker than last season.

“Cutler’s best work was during 7 on 7 when he had about 6-8 really magnificent 15-20 yard throws on comebacks, corners and deep square in’s. He is getting very good at finding the windows in zone defenses and really drilling the ball in to the numbers. He continued to do a good job today vs. the blitz.”

— SoCal 7/30/07

The other QB’s seemed to have fair practices, with each one continuing to work on elements of their game.

Cecil Lammey was joined by Big Sean Baca (Next Level Scouting) at camp today, and here are some of their comments. You can read the full report at footballguys.com.

QUARTERBACK:
They reported that Patrick Ramsey and Hackney both looked less then comfortable under center, but Cecil and Sean agree with every other account on Jay’s good day. They say he has confidence and has seem calmed and in control. They mention that his favorite target (besides Walker) was Brandon Stokley and admired his skill at disguising his reads.

“His drop-backs looked good, and he got rid of the ball quickly. He was very decisive when making his throws, even if some were ill-advised. I liked the way that he was looking off the cornerbacks and he kept them guessing almost all day.”

— Cecil Lammey 7/30/07

RUNNING BACK:
Cecil reports that Travis Henry looked “AMAZING” today. Better than day one by a longshot.

“Travis showed great vision on his cutbacks and stunning power between the tackles. There were at least 4 different runs where he made the cutback at just the right time and made the backside of the defense look very, very bad. There was even one run where he cut back across most of the field and made it to the corner and up the field. He’s the best RB I’ve seen in Broncos camp since Clinton Portis.”

— Cecil Lammey 7/30/07

Cecil Sapp, Mike Bell and Andre Hall all had a solid day. Sapp showcased more of his power-running style, while Bell showed great willingness to work the middle, but struggled a bit to find his lanes. Andre Hall looked fine, although he is running behind all but Selvin Young – who Lammey says seemed off-balance and lacked vision.

WIDEOUTS:
Sean says that Javon Walker looked like an all-pro all every play and Cecil added that he looks like a man among boys out there.

“Karl Paymah was dominating some receivers, but he couldn’t drive Walker off of his route. Javon was driving through the physical corner play and making plays.”

— Cecil Lammey 7/30/07

He says that Domenik Hixon had a solid day with strong route running and David Terrell looked good during some of his 1-on-1 work. According to Cecil, Quincy Morgan was getting worked over by the defensive secondary and that, while David Kircus got his hands on a lot of balls, he seemed to bobble several of them. Consistency has always been the monkey on his back… We’ll see if he can unload the chimp before the season starts. He also had positive things to say about Brandon Stokley’s day at camp.

“Brandon Stokley can still get open against any type of coverage. He doesn’t give his route away with his shoulders or his hips and before you know it he is stopping and coming back to the ball. He knows how to work the sideline as well. He caught an over the shoulder go route that only a few in the NFL can catch consistently.”

— Cecil Lammey 7/30/07

TIGHT ENDS:
Daniel Graham dropped some passes today, but Cecil marks it up to an off day. He also mentions that Nate Jackson made some plays.

D-LINE:
Sean says that Tim Crowder was dominant and received praises from the coaching staff as he did very well in 1-on-1 drills. Javis Moss had some good plays in 1-on-1’s but Sean mentions that Meadows and Lepsis were able to defend against him on several occasions. Elvis Dumervil looked great according to Sean. Elvis seems to be using his leverage and arm length well. Warren, Ekuban and Kennedy also looked good today, but Antwan Burton fell short of impressing.

O-LINE:
Sean says that Lepsis showed great footwork, Meadows seemed to shut off the corner rush, and Nalen could not be beaten. Erik Pears, however, looked ‘awful’ according to Sean.

“Pears looked awful, played confused at times, had problems against Crowder, Dumervil, and Moss’ bombardment.”

— Sean Baca 7/30/07

SECONDARY:
John Lynch led the secondary in a very physical session. Dominique Foxworth made some pad-popping hits, Karl Paymah made some physical plays and Lynch actually threw Kircus to the ground during the practice.

Champ Bailey had two interceptions in goal line work, and Bly come on strong during 7-on-7 drills.